


Hear the heartbeat

by FinickityinFields123 (lifetheuniverseandeverything42), lifetheuniverseandeverything42



Series: Attack of the plot bunny! [5]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: AU: No Seven of Nine, Alien Character(s), Alien Culture, Alien Rituals, Alien Technology, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bullying, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Past Relationship(s), Past Torture, Post-Season/Series 03 AU, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Harm, Self-Harm Culture, Understanding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-10-26 16:08:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20744975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifetheuniverseandeverything42/pseuds/FinickityinFields123, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifetheuniverseandeverything42/pseuds/lifetheuniverseandeverything42
Summary: The starship voyager are flying along quite happily at warp 3 when Kim detects some fluctuations next to their hull. They break out of warp and the readings remain - so they send out some hails and finally and small ship decloaks. This is the story of that ship and Voyager's adventures.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Alternate Universe, Canon Divergence from around Season 3/4 onwards. It does not include Seven of Nine.
> 
> This is very much deliberate. We have so many 'finding humanity' stories, just in canon!   
I have see so many, even just in Voyager (which is in my opinion the most real and genuine with its characters and their arcs - such as Tom and B'Lanna, who I love) of the generic 'what makes us/me human' and learning to 'fit in' with the human race. Data and the Doctor already do this. We had no need for Seven - and though her dynamic with Janeway is interesting, I resent her as a character for the disruptions she caused for the cast/characters relationships.
> 
> So this fanfiction will include an Original Chracter who is an alien, to fill that technological gap, but advance the story with the characters - or so I hope. 
> 
> Enjoy!

'Elena' as she was called in English, was not part of the original crew of the starship Voyager. She joined the group some way into their journey home, meeting them not in chaos and battle but in calm and celebration. In secret at first then after stepping into the light, she came on board and joined the crew. She had melded so well with the tightknit family the Voyager crew had become, Janeway reflected as she sat with her coffee staring out at the stars in her ready room. She remembered back to when they first met their Delta-Quadrant-Alien friend...

Voyager had been at warp 3 for some time - at their customary heading of Earth, Alpha Quadrant; when Ensign Kim detected some fluctuations next to their hull.

"Err, Captain?" He spoke into the quiet bridge.

"What is it Ensign?" Janeway asked him, turning around in her seat to look at him.

"Err, I don't know..." he replied, glancing nervously at his panel and back at his Captain. "These readings-" he waved a hand at the screens in front of him and frowned.

"Let me see," Janeway told him, getting up from her chair and stretching slightly. She'd been sat caught up in a conversation with Commander Chakotay and hadn't moved for the better part of half an hour. Her unfalteringly curiosity driving her to now direct her attention to the data streaming across her Ensign's station. "Huh. That is weird."

"Captain?" Tuvok questioned.

"This data can't be possible." she explained, "No wonder you were confused Harry." She smiled at him.

"It's not the first time we've come across impossibilities, you know, maybe you should get accustomed to seeing them and not knowing what on earth to do." Chakotay mock-reprimanded their junior officer with a smile.

"Oh, leave him alone Chakotay!" Tom butted in, "Do you want me to break out of warp Captain?"

"I'm not sure - these readings are practically from the hull. There might be something wrong. Harry," she turned to her slightly nervous officer stood looking over her shoulder. "Have you noticed any readings like this before, before we went into warp specifically.?"

"No. Not today, not ever." He answered her.

"So, they might only happen in warp?" She asked the room - trying to think out loud.

"I think not." Tuvok expanded. "Just because they have first appeared in warp does not mean they are only here in warp. To assume so is-"

"Illogical." The bridge crew finished, and Tuvok looked startled.

"Yes."

Smiling, Janeway gestured to Tom. "Bring us out of warp Lieutenant."

A small grin of his own flashing briefly across his face, Paris obliged. As the ship slowed, Kathryn and Kim stared intently at the readings. Chakotay got up to join them, leaning over the console shoulder to shoulder with Harry and the Captain.

"They're still there." The Captain announces to some whispers of excitement from the bridge crew. "What_ever_ could they be?"

"How about a ship. A cloaked ship." Chakotay suggests.

"A ship?" Janeway's exclaims. "No, it can't be. Look at these dimensions. It's soon small for a ship - not one with a warp drive anyway. It's not possible."

"Captain." The commander admonishes, "Stop using the impossible to justify things - we've all seen that much we never dreamed was possible. It's not really a creditable argument anymore."

She smiles at him then glances at Harry. "Well Ensign? Could it be a ship?"

He examined the data once again, "I think it _could_ be, but I'm not sure. It's the only thing right now I can even imagine fitting these readings."

"Shall we send out some hails, Captain?" Paris asked excitedly.

"Hang on a minute Lieutenant," Janeway paused to think, "Can you bring us to a stop? That might give us chance to sort out these readings." She glanced at Harry who nodded half-biting his lip, she smiled slightly and turned back to see Tom pouting and her smile widened. "Lieutenant?" she prompted, hiding a grin.

"Right away Captain." he told her grumpily, turning back to his station - muttering something about 'never having any real excitement lately' - and the Captain shook her head gently, laughing under her breath. She momentarily locked eyes with Commander Chakotay and they shared a smile then she returned to scanning the data pouring onto the screen.

"I still can't make head or tail of this Captain," Harry admittedly to her quietly, "Maybe Tom's idea wasn't so bad after all?"

"If they're going to so much trouble to hide themselves do you really think they would answer hails Harry?" she pointed out just as quietly, "But all the same I'm not sure I feel comfortable just leaving a potential ship hanging practically on our hull." she raised her voice to reach across the Bridge, "What do you think Tuvok?"

"If we cannot determine anything from the information available then we need to gather more data to make an informed decision." Tuvok replied.

"I think hailing is not the craziest idea," Chakotay added, flashing a grin in Tom's direction which he instantly returned.

"Alright then, let's do it." Kathryn declared, shortly followed by a cut-off whoop from the pilot's chair - quickly stopped after a mock glare from the Captain and a real Vulcan glare from Tuvok...

"Are you sure Captain?" Tuvok asked quietly (though across the length of the bridge) and Janeway walked over to his station to put her hand on his shoulder despite how he shifted uncomfortably.

"Tuvok you said we should gather more information. Surely this is one way to do it?" she swept her hand around the bridge theatrically and turned back to face him, one eyebrow raised in query.

"Very well Captain, but I will stand ready. They could be hostile." he told her as unemotionally as always.

"We don't even know if there is anyone out there at all," Harry added, shrugging as Tom shouted 'spoilsport!' at him, "These readings are so muddled there could be an alien creature or a black hole following us and I'm not sure we would be able to tell the difference."

"I think that is a bit exaggerated Mr Kim, it is definitely not a black hole out there. We would have been destroyed by now, even by a micro-one." Tuvok reprimanded him, to the small sniggers and excessive eye-rolls of everyone else, Harry just stood there mouth half-open unable to formulate any kind of response. Janeway giggled then straightened from leaning against Tuvok's terminal and strode back to her chair at the centre of the room.

"Alright everyone, let's get on with this." She sat rim-rod straight in her captain's chair and glancing round spotted Tom's eager face, "Don't be disappointed if nothing happens Mr Paris." she cautioned him, then she signalled to Harry to send out the standard multi-lingual and multi-format greeting.

The Captain and the Commander's eyes locked to the view screen, as did Tom's and Tuvok's, whilst Harry focused intently on the readings scrolling in front of him.

After a moment Janeway glanced at Chakotay and gestured to Harry to send it again, he did so and almost immediately a small ship shimmered into view.

"YES!" Tom shouted exuberantly, "FINALLY!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know nobody's really reading this so in reality I could update any time but I guess I figured it was some sort of fanfiction-good-manners to do a new chapter during the Christmas period. Anyways, to anyone reading this: enjoy! I will continue to update whilst I have the will and wish to do so, I write this fic for me and my sanity and will always do so while I have need of it. So there!

"Lieutenant!" Janeway admonished as he swivelled in his seat to face her sheepishly, a smile played about her lips as she wagged a finger at him. "Have some decorum next time, please."

They all turned to stare at the tiny ship now plainly visible at the centre of the large screen. The Captain got up swiftly and hurried to Kim's station to stare at the readings now coming in, she glanced at Harry baffled and he shrugged.

"How small is that ship Ensign?" she asked him bewildered and he frowned down at his data again and simply replied: "Small."

It really was incredibly tiny in comparison to Voyager's massive size; and looking at it - even magnified - on the view screen, it had a strange unidentified alloy as it's shell that was practically impenetrable to any scans. The nacelles were curved and gleamed with an eerie blueish light, the ship's contours and plating made it look smooth and graceful: beautiful. It was clearly well crafted and lovingly designed, the crew were in awe as they gazed out from every porthole on the ship; none more so than Tom as he stared up at the bright screen directly in front of him.

"Captain?" He spoke up in almost a whisper, "Are there any people on board?"

"Who could fit?" Harry responded, biting his lip again as the Captain turned her steady gaze to him before replying to Tom's question. "We can't tell, the hull is configured in a way that we can't penetrate with our scans."

"Why not have B'Elanna take a look?" he suggested. Her eyebrows raised and she nodded, so he got up - confident that the ship was immobile right now - and went to fetch her. Janeway watched him go with a small smile for young boys in love, then turned back to Harry who was also watching his friend leave with a knowing smile on his face. They grinned at each other before focusing on the curious data before them, of which there seemed to be more questions than there were answers. Chakotay got up and came over to add his view to the murmured discussion taking place over the puzzling readings, when a shimmering light appeared in a column between his chair and Harry's terminal. And there _she_ appeared...

She was definitely a she - in a kind of simple unassuming way. She was humanoid certainly, seeming very human apart from her small stature that looked somehow disproportionate to the humans around, her legs far longer than her torso - her arms as well - but her actual 'body' seemed crushed almost, very short and stout compared to the Alpha Quadrant biology present. Her skin was very pale and grey so as to seem almost translucent, and she had two wide luminous eyes with large slate grey irises. Her hair was about shoulder length and looked very smooth and soft (as it hung loosely about her face) but was a similar dark grey to her fingernails. Her fingers were long, had three joints instead of two and were deeply calloused and creased yet still seemed smooth and delicate in some way. Her legs were clearly double-jointed but beyond that ordinary, just strangely long and strong beneath dark grey clingy trousers of some sort. Her figure was slim but for her hips which gently curved and her shoulders which were wide and load bearing - covered by a lighter pale grey shawl garment with a lowered hood that rested on the back of her neck. The fabric that clothed her resembled wool and was altogether comfortable looking, baggy and shapeless whilst beneath the outer garments, hugging her curves, was a long-sleeved darker clothing item, which fit close to her long muscled arms and hung by her palm - more than covering her wrists. Between that and the sturdy steel-grey boots she wore that came to just above her ankle, no skin was showing apart from her face and hands. Her head was averagely sized for the humanoid races on board Voyager though it had extra volume around the cranium at the back and she smiled with normal looking pale (though somehow shimmery) teeth. She appeared to be intelligent - although the crew had no idea just how apparent that would soon be - and utterly unthreatening, given she came up to Janeway's shoulders at most and barely reached Tuvok's waist; not to mention carried no discernible weapon and appeared to be fairly young, possibly not fully matured (though with aliens, it's impossible to tell from a single glance).

"Hello?" Janeway greeted her, stepping forward after getting over the initial shock at her arrival.

"Hi." She replied in perfect English despite their translation software never having heard her language before, upon seeing the Captain's look of consternation, she let out a small good-natured laugh and explained. "I really am speaking English; your translators would never manage my own even if I input it directly. No offence." she added.

Janeway observed her speechlessly then made a decision. "How did you do that?"

"What?" she replied, still smiling slightly.

"How do you know about our translation matrix, or English? And how did you transport aboard?"

"Oh that? I just- did." she replied, with a shrug so teenagerish that it made the others of the crew smile without realising it.

"I don't understand." Captain responded frowning.

"Sorry, it's a little complicated and really hard to explain." she told her, uncertainly. "I'm not saying you wouldn't understand, it's just that I'm not quite sure how to go about explaining it, do you see?"

"Alright. Shorten it?" Janeway answered almost sarcastically, almost commandingly. Their guest raised one silvery eyebrow and tried her best.

"I'm... telepathic? No that's not quite the right word." she paused hunting for the correct words in this newly acquired language. " I'm - technopathic? Is that a thing?"

"No, I think you just invented it." Janeway replied wryly, almost smiling in response to their guest's humorous tone and infectious grin.

"Yeah, well it's the closest word I got. Basically, I can speak to your ship, your computer's and your engines: they're all the same to me."

"How?" came the shocked reply, the rest of the bridge crew watching this interaction with bated breath.

"My species just can: I know one of my kind who can talk to rocks, another fire, another meteors of any kind, another can whisper to every flower ever created all day long. It's kinda, what we do. But if you want to know the exact details as to 'how' then we're gonna be here for days."

"Where are your species from?" Chakotay asked honestly interested, she turned to face him and said:

"Oh, a long way from here. Another galaxy." Her response was clipped, not overtly deceitful but her 'relatives' were clearly a tender subject. Janeway threw an almost imperceptible glance at her second-in-command then addressed the alien girl.

"Another galaxy! How come you are here then?" she questioned her gentle but curious.

"Well, I kinda got kicked out. But then I decided to make the most of it. You know?" The alien seemed to be emulating similar language and responses characteristic of human teenagers; whether it was intentional or not, the crew were uncertain.

"Yeah," Harry cut in, smiling wryly, "We know." The alien gazed at him wordlessly and then smiled in understanding - seeming to comprehend their struggles, grief and sorrow all at once and simply accepting it within that simple gesture; Harry was staggered by her complexity.

"Listen, your ship was kind enough to give me a lift; when I first came across you, I wasn't sure if you'd be okay with such a thing..."

"How did we not sense you?" Chakotay asked puzzled.

"Oh, your dear Voyager took care of that." She replied smiling benevolently, but not at them. "She simply didn't show you any readings of me. It was all her own devising, she's pretty crafty when she needs to be." she smiled fondly and the ship gave a hum almost in response. 

"Wait, Voyager?" Harry questioned, stunned.

"Yes. We're kind of friends, she likes me because I listen. But she has her own favourites among you lot!" The alien gave a playful grin and stifled a laugh at their shocked expressions.


End file.
